What Did He REALLY look like?
by The Righterzpen
Summary: Now we've all read those passages in Isaiah that seem to tell us that Jesus was "less than"... on the attractive side - but what did he REALLY look like? Well, here's a Bible study into those passages; as well as a little information gleaned from archeology.
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

This study will deal with information about Jesus Christ that will cover a variety of aspects of his life. It will cover physical descriptions and psychological descriptions of Him based on Scripture.

Some information related to archeology and anthropology will also be covered.

I began this study as part of a research project in the writing of Ask Me how i know there's a God up in the heavens. My intent in that book was not just to write about struggles the main 20th century character was facing; but to contextualize the experience and answers addressing those issues in both as Scripturally sound "advice", as well as being as historically accurate as possible.


	2. Isaiah 52 & 53

**Isaiah's Description**

 **Isaiah 53**

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

So, here's the first set of verses in our English translation; but what do these passages actually "look like" in the Hebrew?

 _(Pun Intended!)_

Interestingly enough, these verses actually don't have anything to do with Jesus's physical description. They actually have to do with people's perception of him in the role he came as; Messiah, "suffering servant" and King!

Let's break it down:

 ** _Verse 2:_**

First off "he shall grow up" is a Hebrew tense that is an incomplete action. (He's never going to stop "growing up"; which doesn't make any sense in English, but when we translate the rest of the verse, it will make more sense.)

"as a sapling in the face of Him (God); as a root which originated all the way down at the foundation (not getting it's nourishment from the dry ground around it)."

"...which has no..." The Hebrew word "no" in this verse is most often translated as "nor", then "can not": thirdly most translated as "no", "never", "not", fourthly as "without" and then "surely".

"form"; which this word is derived from a root word meaning "inclination toward".

"honorable", "majestic", "respected" or "splendorous" - "adornment".

"That when we see / saw / looked upon him, there were no attributes (of physical, charisma or any other "qualification") that would cause us to be pleased with; (as in desire to exalt or praise) him.

Now the next verse explains "why" (or rather people's perception of him based primarily on life circumstance.

 ** _Verse 3:_**

"He is dismissed with contempt, (looked down upon, marginalized) and refused, (ignored and forsaken) by men. A man who'd been inflicted upon with / sickened (emotionally) by painful suffering; (intimately) familiar with hardship. Of whom we hid our faces from, dismissing with contempt and not thinking of or considering him."

 ** _Verse 4:_**

Yet in all truth, our hardships he has taken upon him and that which pains our souls, he has lifted the heavy load. Yet we ourselves reckoned (thought of, concluded) him to be struck down defeated and cursed by God; contending with his frustration.

 ** _Verse 5:_**

But his heart was pierced and emptied because of our rebellion. He was crushed to contrition on account of being punished for our guilt, the correction of our welfare being secured was laid up against him; buy his chastisement we are made completely whole.

 ** _He shall continue to spring up as a sapling in the face of Him, as a root in dry ground nourished from the Foundation; surely never with an inclination toward honored majesty. For when we see him, we recognize no qualifying attributes we would desire to exhalt him for_** **.**

 ** _He is dismissed with contempt and ignored by men; a man who's soul has been inflicted with suffering and is well aquatinted with hardship. Of whom we hide our faces; dismissing him with contempt and not thinking to want to be considering him._**

 ** _Genuinely, our hardships he's carried and helped to lift the heavy load upon our souls. But we concluded him to be struck down and cursed by God; thus the reason for his frustrations in life._**

 ** _But his heart was pierced and emptied because of our rebellion. He was crushed to the point of total prostration for the sake of being punished for our guilt. This correction that secured our peace with God was laid against him; that by his being bruised, we were made completely whole._**

These verses as taken together, considering the whole of Jesus's life and not only the 3 days and 3 nights of enduring wrath; give us more of a complete picture of what he actually did. The Scripture says he "learned obedience" and "Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:8

This learning obedience started from the first moment he was consciously aware of his own internal desire to be obedient.

 **Isaiah 52**

13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

14 As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

 ** _Verse 13_**

Behold, on account of his wise understanding; my Servant shall rise up, being carried on high to exceeding exaltation.

 ** _Verse 14_**

Just as many were made desolate on account of; therefore was he ritually corrupted more than any man, of his inclination toward majestic ornamentation more than the sons of men.

 ** _Verse 15_**

Therefore he shall cause to leap: Nations, as locusts more numerous (than Israel) against / upon / on the ground of, to draw together closed the mouths of kings, for what not had been taken into consideration by them; they shall be forced to see to. And also who they would not listen to; they will consider diligently.

 ** _Behold, on account of his wisdom; my Servant shall rise, being carried on high in exceeding exaltation._**

 ** _Just as many are made desolate on account of him; his likeness was intentionally distorted more than any man and the nature of his Kingship more than the sons of men._**

 ** _Therefore he shall send nations as locusts to cover the land of Judah and shut the mouths of kings, for he they did not consider, now they are forced to recognize. Also, he who they would not hearken to; they will be forced to consider diligently._**

In the next chapter, I will cover historic interpretation of some of these verses by the Talmud.


	3. Talmudic traditions

**Talmudic Traditions**

Now the next portion of this study is going to deal with the traditions of what was claimed to be believed about the Messiah from the Jewish leadership of the 1st century.

I will say strait out though, that I don't believe this is an accurate representation of 1st century beliefs. Much of the source material for this, comes out of the Talmud (which was penned some 200 plus years later); but more specifically, the purpose of the Talmud was to intentionally distort how Jesus was presented to begin with. So thus, obviously it is not a reliable source of what the Jewish leaders in the 1st century actually understood.

 _ **The Sanhedrin:**_

From the Scripture though, I think we get a more accurate picture of what they understood; the most telling source material coming from people like Nicodemus and Pontius Pilate.

John 3:2 Nicodemus says to Jesus: _**"We**_ know you are teacher come from God; because no man could do the miracles you do unless God was with him."

Nicodemus here makes an obvious observation; (what you do, no man could do without God). More importantly to this issue though; he says _**"we"**_. Nicodemus was one of the leaders of the Sanhedrin and so just from this word alone; we know what the Sanhedrin understood about Jesus.

Jesus was not a passing fancy on the blink of the horizon who claimed to be the Messiah. There were lots of those in that day; because it was a time of great anticipation of the appearance of the Messiah to begin with. Just like today there is great anticipation about "the second coming"; regardless of what different groups believe eschatologically speaking. There is great anticipation and expectation that the event is coming sooner than later.

 _ **The Romans:**_

The other aspect of this is not in just what the Roman authorities understood themselves about Jesus; but what the Romans understood, that the Sanhedrin understood about Jesus. Pilate perceives quite accurately that the leaders of the nation have brought Jesus to him for execution on account of their envy.

1 Corinthians 2:8 says that if the kings of this age had first hand experience with the wisdom of God that presented this "mystery" to the world; (the power of God that produces faith which recognizes the Redeemer as Divine) they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

This verse is talking particularly of Pilate; although not only of Pilate but of the leadership in his "chain of command". This would include the military leaders below, as well as political and military heads above. (I.E. the people who would have been above the centurion in that chain of command; but also those above Pilate because Pilate undoubtedly was a person who'd seen military service.) As the 'bottom line' / 'the buck stops here' authority in that geographic area; Pilate was the final stop.

 _ **The Talmud:**_

So what does the Talmud claim that the Sanhedrin understood about the Messiah, and thus their alleged reasons for rejecting Jesus.

Among probably other things:

1\. They believed the messiah would be a sickly individual

2\. They claimed the messiah would be stoned to death for blasphemy.

 _ **Illness:**_

Now the belief about the messiah being a sickly individual is picked up out of a faulty interpretation of Isaiah 53; (which I'd translated in the previous chapter). They claim to interpret being "a man of sorrows acquainted with grief" to be of a physical nature. So thus this tradition claims the messiah would be a sickly individual.

Some Christian historicists pick this up in claiming because the Jews (alleged) to believe this; so therefore Jesus must have been a sickly person. That I believe is a wrong conclusion too.

Although I would not doubt that there were times Jesus likely got sick; it doesn't seem supportable out of the Scripture to say that he was plagued with pain and illness. Now he might have had some osteoarthritis. Most people in his age category did. He'd probably also caught the common cold; along with what ever childhood illnesses would have been common in the area too. Yet for someone who endured 40 days in the wilderness without food; he would have had to be fairly healthy in order to survive that ordeal.

For the most part though, anthropology has told us that people prior to the Industrial Revolution were healthier than people post Industrial Revolution. So much of the diseases we see today, didn't even exist back then. From the remains of people found in Pompeii; the two most common ailments were osteoarthritis and venereal disease. Well we can pretty safely exclude Jesus from one of those.

On the flip side of this too though; I also think it's erroneous to conclude that Jesus never got sick. Some folks fall into this fallacy too; believing that illness is a result of sin. Although it's true that illness did not exist prior to the fall; getting sick does not automatically mean you are sick because of some hidden sin. People today, through no fault of their own are still affected by living in a fallen world.

 _ **Blasphemy:**_

The other alleged belief is that the messiah would be stoned for blasphemy. This has a little more "Biblical prescription" based on the fact that the Levitical punishment for blasphemy was stoning.

But Jesus wasn't stoned either. He was crucified.

Now 'technically' under Roman law, Jesus was crucified for claiming kingship. Yet on account of having told Pilate that His Kingdom was not of this world; Pilate did not see Jesus as a threat to the Roman Empire.

Just as there are Christian historicists who claim Jesus was a sickly individual based on alleged Jewish beliefs; there are those who claim that he was also stoned while he was on the cross. They claim this too from the verse in Isaiah 52 that talks about his 'countenance being marred' (which I also translated that in a the previous chapter). There's absolutely no evidence though from the gospels that Jesus had been stoned either. Matter of fact, there is at least one record of people wanting to stone Him; but this doesn't happen.

So why was Jesus crucified and not stoned, if that was the real issue the leaders had with him?

Well, the most obvious answer to this is that Jesus didn't commit blasphemy. The other aspect of this; I believe has to do with God's mandate that civil government exists as His rightful appointed authorities to restrain sin. So therefore under God's economy of doing things; Jesus had to executed by the appropriate civil authority.

Now what of Christian historicists who quote some of these traditions to us?

I think the historical accuracy of what the assumed belief is; is about as accurate as we will ever be able to tell, in the light of what ever extent actual 1st century recorded beliefs we ever find. Some corroborating evidence has surfaced through archeology; but even the full understanding from an archeological standpoint has it's limitations.

So in conclusion; I'd say that theories about Jesus that line up to Scripture have a higher likelihood of being true, than ones that obviously don't.


	4. Psalm 139

**Psalm 139**

The next section of this study; which I "stumbled" across, comes out of psalm 139.

 _(The psalm I "stumbled" upon; the translation is my own. Bold text in parenthesis are words not present, but implied in the Hebrew. Non-bold text and italic text are interpretation / hypothesis based on textual context.)_

This is a Messianic psalm of the Messiah's description of his personal experience of his own life. It's a quite fascinating insight into the psyche of Jesus, as to what he understood about his own existence and his experience with the Father as the plan unfolded.

 **Psalm 139**

 **1\. For the Chief Musician of David a psalm (of) the Lord. Search me and continue to (intimately) know me.**

 **2\. You completely know my (life) inhabitation; my rising (to where I stand); You completely understand my ideas (of my purpose / as opposed to Your ideas of my purpose) from the distance.**

 _"… know my life habitation" has to do with the habitual every day grind of what Jesus did and his thoughts and attitudes toward life and his lot in it._

 _("Rising to where I stand" seems to have some implication beyond the concept of taking a stand on things like moral or ethical issues. Although Jesus did that when confronted with such issues; doing what's morally or ethically right is not something foreign to humanity. His "rising to where he stood" appears to have more to do with coming to conclusions on things and God's understanding of Jesus's motivations that drove behavior that was "culturally rude" - like throwing people and animals out of the temple._

 _Jesus did a lot of things that were "outside the box" so to speak and the Father understood his actions and reactions, even if other people didn't. Jesus's behavior was often judged and misperceived; to the point where Isaiah tells us he was condescended to, ignored and marginalized. Apparently though, he was aware of how God saw him and was comforted by the fact that the Father understood.)_

 **3\. In relation to my intended purpose; my laying down to sleep, you winnow (sift - throw in the air so the chaff flies away) all my doings in life; You are intimately involved in the care of.**

 **there is not a word of (all) my utterances - Wow - Lord; You (we) know the whole of.**

 _("Utterances" being both of intended communication using spoken words (both to God and man), but also of sighs, groans, other noises including body language that communicates to God feelings, thoughts and intents. This would include sorrow, frustration, joy, fear, excitement etc.)_

 **5\. Behind and before (surrounding), You have enclosed me in and have laid Your hand upon (around) me.**

 **6\. Great wonderful knowledge for me securely set upon high, that I can not overcome (resist) it.**

 **7\. Where could I ever go from the breath of Your Spirit; or where from (the direction of) Your face could I flee.**

 **8\. If I (determine) to ascend into heaven, there You own. If I strew myself across Sheol, (Wow) - You see that too.**

 **9\. If I take to the wings of (toward the sun) dawn, or dwell in the final end of the sea.**

 **10\. Also there, Your (powerful / possessive) hand shall lead me, seized upon by Your right hand.**

 **11\. And if I say: surely this darkness will overwhelm me, even that night shall be like sunrise about me.**

 **12\. Likewise, this darkness shall not grow darker than (to overpower) You, but that night as The Day (continually) grows brighter, for that darkness and The Day are the same to you.**

 _(Language metaphorical of resurrection.)_

 **13\. Since You bought my inward parts and wove me together in the womb of my mother.**

 _(Reference to those who (in the case of Christ) would be metaphorically begotten; yet if begotten in the flesh would be reference to female counterpart's ovaries; since this word is "feminine plural". This word (inward parts) is often translated "kidneys" although is often a reference to reproductive organs and I think the translation error comes from a misconception in the ancient world, that kidneys were somehow involved in reproduction. Those who would be begotten of Christ because of the sending of the Holy Spirit are "woven together" of him in that His human nature was necessary to be the appropriate sacrifice.)_

 **14\. I will heap praise upon You; for I am astonished of You and (perfectly complete) uniquely fashioned (by You). Extraordinary above all others is Your work (i.e. how You made me) that my (human) personhood (intimately) and abundantly knows.**

 **15\. Never was anything hidden of (denied) of (the way my) physical body (was made) than (coming from) You, by which I was made in secret, perfectly woven in the lowest lands of the earth.**

 _(The first part of this verse … never was anything hid of the way I was made which came from You… because I was designed in secret…. seems to be a reference to the perfection of the creation plan which was laid out before creation was ever commenced._

 _The Messiah was never denied anything of his experience of the perfection of that creation plan, as was made known to him being directed from the Father. This hearkens back to some of the conclusions drawn in the_ _Be Fruitful and Multiply_ _study; whereas Jesus was not forbidden from exploring any aspect of life, although obviously staying within the confines of the parameters the Father put around him._

_The second half of the verse …. perfectly woven in the lowest lands of the earth… being a reference to peoples and nations; that the Messiah would be birthed of those of the lowest estate of humanity, as Jerusalem is described in Ezekiel 16. Despite that "Jerusalem" believes themselves to be something special. God describes them as absolutely morally and ethically destitute above all other peoples.)_

 **16\. My body being not yet developed, You saw with Your eyes because of Your (massive) Book** (prob. Book of life) **all was written (in decree) the days formed for me though not the first of which had yet happened.**

 _(This is probably a reference to the commencement of creation; in that God preordained the Messiah would be born of the seed of Eve. Even though at that point, creation had been completed, but Jesus hadn't been conceived yet.)_

 **17\. And to me, why the preciousness of Your ideas (of my purpose) so important to me? God! Why so numerous (like comparing bones) are the heads (continuous emerging of my new thoughts) of them.**

 **18\. If I should count them, they would continue to multiply (being greater in number than all the grains of - infinitely) sand. When I awake, I would again be with You.**

 _(Verses 17 & 18 in comparison to verses 2 & 3, give us an interesting insight to how apparently revelation about Messiah's life purpose was brought to and processed by Jesus. One of the purposes of sleep, psychologically speaking is to "order our brains" as to help make sense out of our life experiences. Sleep helps our brains process what's happened during our waking hours and when we don't sleep; this causes a blurring in the brain's function between waking reality and sleeping non-reality. This is the stuff hallucinations and psychiatric crisis which lead to breaks with reality are made of. We need to sleep. It's vitally important to our mental health. So, as we apparently see from these four verses; much of how Jesus came to know and process what his purpose was, came though the apparent fact that he dreamt about it a lot.) _

**19\. If You would slay God** (probably reference to the Father because this is in the singular) **the wicked one** (probably reference to Satan because it's also in the singular) **than would blood guilty men (obey the command) Depart from me!**

 **20\. Whom of which continuously speak (against You), scheming to carry off (Your name) in shady (varieties with no good intent) do these enemies.**

 **21\. Nor now You (we) hate them Lord. I will always hate those who rise up against You. I will continue to snap them off.**

 _(This hearkens to language in the epistle to the Romans about the branches who don't bear fruit being broken off.)_

 **22\. To the consummation of my hatred, I face them in my wrath (non love). It has (come to pass that) they are my (personal) enemies, (as well as the enemies of my people - i.e. those I have redeemed).**

 **23\. Search me God** (singular - probably Father) **. Know (intimately) my heart (soul). Try me and (intimately) know my anxious (secrets) of doubt.**

 **24\. Continue to search if there is any way of malice in me and lead me in the way of everlasting.**

As we see, reading through this, there are some interesting truths that emerge.

First off, though Isaiah 53 describes the Messiah as contending with God over frustrations in his life; I don't think Jesus was unhappy. By this psalm, he seems to be quite amazed, enthralled, humbled and feeling protected by this overshadowing of (the rest of) God's presence.

He makes reference to the Holy Spirit being an Entity of operation of direction by His presence on earth, as well as a major presence in Jesus's "space". The Holy Ghost is described as a separate person, just like the Father. They are all present, but not existing as one another or "in" one another. They are all distinct in their Personhoods (all having distinct roles too). Which is an important point about the Trinity.

The other thing this psalm makes note of, is that this constant Divine presence was also described as overwhelming to the Messiah. It doesn't appear though that Jesus was overwhelmed in a negative sense. Having a Divine nature, but also being the possession of the other Persons of the Trinity was a unique experience, differing from that of any other human.

This psalm describes that the Messiah knew he was different. That was probably the most obvious to him in not having a sinful nature, but having to interact with everyone else who does. This appears to be the source of much of his frustration we see recorded in the gospels. The rest of humanity doesn't understand Jesus and they don't understand God either. And apparently trying to figure out how to interact from a very different paradigm, was a source of a lot of aggravation for Jesus, because just as they didn't understand him; having a sinful nature that motivates everything you do, was also foreign to Jesus's experience.

So taking into account that Jesus did not have sin, gives an interesting perspective on God and what holiness is as it relates to things Jesus participated in which he wholly did having no hangups related to sin. Human being often "prescribe" for themselves ideas of what they think God is like and what is or isn't "holy". For example, Matthew 11 and Luke 7 tell us:

 **18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.**

 **19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.**

 **20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:**

Jesus had the ability to take pleasure in the creation and "do all things to the glory of God" that those who were not the "children of wisdom" understood. Not having sin, he freely enjoyed things given to him in the confines of the Father's provision and because he had not sin, his experiences were "more full" than ours are.

John 10 says:

 **9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.**

 **10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.**

 **11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.**

Now obviously having life and having it more abundantly is not "license to sin". We see this in Romans 6, starting with the first verse; but also, here is the contextualization of Jesus's "more abundant life".

 **10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.**

 **11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.**

 **12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.**

Jesus's joy and appreciation of good things in life came from the love of the Father which he was so intimately familiar with; that it amazed, enthralled, humbled, overwhelmed and comforted him. Because the "vertical" relationship was right, the "horizontal" ones were as well. Jesus was able to be what he was because of the loving nature of God; despite times when Jesus was frustrated, angry, sad, scared, disgusted, lonely, tired, hungry, sick or in pain and his behavior reflected his emotions. The love that amazed, enthralled, humbled, overwhelmed and comforted him was his primary motivating factor, not "duty".

"Sense of duty" will only carry a person so far. Any soldier who's been in combat can attest to this. When the rubber meets the road; it's the guy next to you that you "lay your life down for"; not "patriotism", some "political ideal" or "way of life".


End file.
